All Things Urban

This summer school on “City Aesthetics and Citizenship,” organised by the Urban Studies Institute in collaboration with the Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts, addresses its topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. How does the aesthetic imagination influence the shape of our cities, social interactions, and the (self)image of citizens? Literature, film, the visual and performing arts, computer games―they all shape the urban imagination. They can have palpable effects in reality, whether intended or unintended, direct or indirect. Often artists and writers, as inventors of “possible worlds,” are called upon to produce visions of the urban future. Can this utilitarian attitude be beneficial? Where does it threaten artistic autonomy and the need for social critique? How can we pinpoint the material and social effects of aesthetic images? How difficult is the distinction between fictional and nonfictional strategies in “imagineering” cities? Looking at theories, empirical case studies, and artistic practices, we will investigate both the impact of the aesthetic imagination on cities and the structural tensions between artistic visions and the social and material constructions of cities. The summer school combines presentations by a range of distinguished external speakers and local staff from USI and ARIA with field trips and discussion seminars. Speakers: Paolo Favero (UAntwerp), Bart Keunen (UGent), Office of Metropolitan Architecture (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), Recetas Urbanas (architects, Spain), Saskia Sassen (Columbia University), Lara Schrijver (UAntwerp), Rob Shields (University of Alberta), Gediminas Urbonas (MIT), An van Dienderen (filmmaker, School of Arts Ghent), Elly Van Eeghem (artist, School of Arts Ghent), Christophe Van Gerrewey (EPFL, Switzerland), Bart Verschaffel (UGent).

The summer school welcomes not only academic researchers (primarily at the PhD level) but also artists, writers, architects, urban planners, and policy-makers concerned with the role of the aesthetic imagination in the building of cities and the social construction of citizenship.

3 ECTS

The Urban Studies Institute is a platform and laboratory for the development of interdisciplinary research and education on cities, urban development and urban challenges. The Institute also functions as a contact point and interface for exchanges with non-academic players, such as policy-makers and people from civil society, and for services related to urban development and policy.

A scholarship is available, click "Register" to find out more.